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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25315837">The Bonds That Tie Us</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RelicIron/pseuds/RelicIron'>RelicIron</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Mercenary [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anxiety Attacks, Anxious Arcann, Force Bond (Star Wars), M/M, Pre-Relationship, cause that's the only Arcann I write really</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:02:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,167</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25315837</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RelicIron/pseuds/RelicIron</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Caden realizes how much damage Valkorian inflicted on his mind before he died and the near miss of being the Eternal Emperor's new body shakes him.<br/>As if that wasn't enough, it turns out that sticking around too long in someone else's mind has consequences.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arcann/Male Bounty Hunter (Star Wars)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Mercenary [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1833691</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Bonds That Tie Us</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I meant to explain the bond that I referred to in Armor to Keep You Safe, but somehow ended up writing a panic attack.<br/>As you do.<br/>But it was something I wanted to explore anyways, since I wasn't satisfied with how little effect the whole 'shattering your mind' thing had on the player character after it was over. And it gave me a chance to write a little bit of Arcann being supportive.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Caden comes to slumped in a chair.</p><p>The same stupid fucking chair that nearly fried him.</p><p>Shit!</p><p>He jumps up and barely manages to stagger more than a step before his legs give out and he drops like a sack of rocks.</p><p>Just before he hits the floor he gets this flash of- something weird- before a pair of arms catch him just enough to lower him the rest of the way.</p><p>The room is still spinning and blurry and that weird feeling itching in the back of his head suddenly gets so strong it shocks him into a coughing fit.</p><p>Surprise, awe, confusion, relief, fear; it’s a whirlwind of emotion and most of it feels… wrong, not like he knows it to feel, but close enough that he can still identify it. It’s like hearing semi-familiar music in another room, muffled but still clear enough to make out the beat and lyrics. He can <em>feel</em> that relief, but its not <b>HIS</b>.</p><p>Confusion spikes out of the maelstrom, and the hands still gripping his arms flinch away like they’ve been burned.</p><p>But not before it registered that one of those hands was definitely not organic.</p><p>The emotions quiet down now, like someone took the music several more rooms away. It’s still there, but barely on the edge of hearing.</p><p>Maybe he was going insane. With everything that just happened, he really wouldn’t be surprised.</p><p>He blinks rapidly to clear his vision and tries to focus on Senya’s far-away voice, but it’s difficult, and his head is still swimming.</p><p>Now that the weird emotion thing has passed, he feels… raw.</p><p>Like someone had sliced him open, scraped out his guts, and just left him that way. Open and bloody and empty.</p><p>He feels painfully exposed and his breath catches around something dangerously close to a whine.</p><p>Heat builds behind his stupid, unfocused eyes and he curls reflexively into himself, squeezing a hand over his mouth as a tremor racks his too tense muscles.</p><p>His memories feel… jagged. A mirror reflecting his whole life that was smashed and glued clumsily back together. His sister’s face, the day he joined the Republic’s SpecOps division, his show down with Jun Seros; all of it’s warped and fuzzy and <b>wron</b><b>g</b>, and underneath it all is this hollow void and-</p><p>Fuck.</p><p>That- that’s what Valkorian was going to do, wasn’t it? He was going to burn out everything that Caden ever was, hollow him out inside and wear him like a shiny new skin suit.</p><p>The empty void in the back of his mind was proof of just how close he’d come to losing everything.</p><p>Caden choked.</p><p>Fuck dying, he stared death in the face daily at this point, but <b>that</b>. Being turned into a meat puppet, and used to rain death on everyone he ever cared about? <b>Fuck,</b> he could’ve- he almost-</p><p>Hands grip his face, one cold and hard, one soft and warm. Emotion assaults him again, and he bites down on the inside of his cheek hard enough to taste blood. In the space of a second everything gets muted, his panic is still just beneath the surface, but it’s finally quiet.</p><p>Slowly, calm and reassurance bleed into his mind. It feels forced and artificial with a foreign anxiety bubbling hot underneath, but it has his muscles unwinding anyways.</p><p>Little by little, his awareness returns to him</p><p>The cold metal floor, the way his elbow is jammed uncomfortably into the bottom of that stupid throne, the creepy quiet.</p><p>The hands still cradling his face.</p><p>His eyes snap open and he sucks in a sharp breath when he’s met with Arcann kneeling carefully in front of him.</p><p>He lets go immediately, and just as quickly the foreign emotions fade out and his own resurface, but the calm he’d managed is enough to keep him from another panic attack.</p><p>“What did you do?”</p><p>Arcann swallows hard and looks away, “I… it seems there were unforeseen consequences for staying your mind for such an extended period of time.”</p><p>Caden grunts as he hauls himself up to sit properly and tries to rub the tension out of his forehead.</p><p>“Meaning?”</p><p>“I’m not certain.”</p><p>He’s trying to dodge the question, Caden’s too tired for this.</p><p>“Take your best guess.”</p><p>He won’t look at him, staring somewhere off to the left of Caden’s face, “I believe we may have accidentally created a Force-bond between us.”</p><p>Just behind Arcann, Senya’s eyebrows climb towards her hairline, and honestly, Caden’s probably in the same state.</p><p>It’s clear Arcann’s waiting for him to ask, but he doesn’t need to. The Force is a big part of Mirialan culture, so even though he’s not a user he still knows <b>exactly</b> what that means.</p><p>“Shit, that was you? The, uh, emotions and the calming down?”</p><p>He nods, “I didn’t know until I caught you, then… I apologize for intruding, but you seemed to be in distress, so I tried to help.”</p><p>“Huh,” he pauses to consider it for a minute, “how deep is it? Am I gonna get thoughts from you, or just emotion?”</p><p>It’s clear that Arcann wasn’t expecting him to know these sorts of things, but he doesn’t let it trip him up.</p><p>“It… remains to be seen, I suppose. At the moment it seems to be limited to emotions, and the strength is related to our proximity.</p><p>“And how well you’re trying to block me out?”</p><p>He startles but nods all the same.</p><p>Senya steps forward and puts a gentle hand on her son’s shoulder.</p><p>“I think it’s best if we keep this quiet. I doubt Lana and the others will be happy about it, and they may think Arcann created it on purpose to influence you.”</p><p>Her gaze turns stern, “I would hope that you don’t think that.”</p><p>He shakes his head and watches Arcann relax minutely as a faint pulse of relief ripples across their new bond. The surprise he’d felt from the other man when he’d discovered the connection made it clear that it was unintentional.</p><p>“All the same, you have my deepest apologies, Commander,” he says, shame-faced.</p><p>Caden snorts, “Don’t know about you, but I’ll take an accidental Force-bond over being a meat puppet and dooming the galaxy any day.”</p><p>It’s enough to earn an amused huff from him and Senya chuckles at his side.</p><p>“Well,” she says, moving over to the arm of the throne, “now that you’re in a better mood, I think it’s time for the galaxy to meet the new Emperor.”</p><p>He’s not really in a better mood. The void is still there, his memories are still damaged, and another anxiety attack is prowling through the shadows in the back of his mind. But she’s already opening a holo-channel to broadcast him across the system, and he hauls himself together to speak anyways.</p><p>Caden casts a glance over his shoulder at the throne. The reason for nearly 6 years of bloodshed and the legacy of a madman.</p><p>“I’m no Emperor.”</p>
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